Now Renault are saying the same thing, although the Enstone based team did not start off the 2010 campaign with plenty of championship hopes (like their Brackley counterparts). Asked about the next step in his team's development, team boss Eric Boullier admitted that he may ask his team to focus on the next year's car in order to have a head start in 2011.
“The strategy will certainly be different compared to the start of the year, although it's clear we need to keep pushing hard because we're still not quick enough to challenge for pole and race wins,” said Boullier, admitting that in order to have a race winning car in 2011 you need a predecessor that can do the same thing this year.
“At the same time it's important that we look ahead to next year and we must not neglect the development of the 2011 car, which is already well underway. We need to find the right balance of resources and that is a decision we have to make in the coming weeks,” added Boullier, whose team is only 20 points behind Mercedes GP in the overall classification.
Earlier this year, the Frenchman admitted that his team's aim for the first part of the season is to overtake Mercedes in terms of car performance. And, although still trailing their German rivals, Renault clearly have the edge over Merc at the moment, as showed by the last results in Valencia (in both race and especially qualifying). Ironically though, these are now the first teams to start thinking of the future.
“The battle with Mercedes is a fight that I expect to last throughout the season. They are a very strong competitor and it would be wrong to underestimate them. (...) So it was important that we took points off them because I know they will fight back,” added Boullier.
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